The story is centered on a young girl named Lyra Belacqua and her daemon, Pantalaimon.  She was raised at Oxford University, under the watch of her uncle, Lord Asriel, who is a scholar at the university.  When he returns from a trip to the Arctic, Lyra overhears his report to the other scholars about something called “Dust” and how he has seen another universe through the Northern Lights, and Lyra is given a mysterious device called an alethiometer, a device that can be read by very few people, but those who can are rewarded with knowing the answer to anything asked of it.  From here Lyra begins her journey to the Arctic.  Along the way she meets some enemies, like the deceptively charming Mrs. Coulter, and friends, like Iorek Byrnson, the talking armored polar bear.

Though written as a children’s book, the metaphors and symbolism is this book is very deep, and it is in fact deeply critical of the Church as well as authority in general.  Those who are easily offended might want to steer clear of this complex book.  However; those who agree that the church might abuse its authority, or like to be challenged in their beliefs would find His Dark Materials to be an engaging and compelling read. I’d give it six out of ten stars.

In mob movies, like The Goodfellas and of course the immortal Godfather, you always get to see the mob bosses and their cronies in action.  But, have you ever stopped to think about the bosses kids?  This humorous book by Gordon Korman explores what it would be like to be the teenage son of a mob boss.  Vince Luca is a normal teenage boy, constantly trying to ’score,’ (mostly due to the urgings of his best friend, Alex) playing on the school football team, and attempting to pass his classes.  However, most places he goes, his father’s identity affects his life.  While playing football, no one on the other team will even touch, for fear of ‘retribution.’  His teachers are afraid to fail him.  This doesn’t sound all too bad, but I don’t think anyone would appreciate having a date that was going well interrupted by sudden poundings and screams for help coming out of the trunk of your car.

Throughout the book, Vince starts trying to help out some of the people who owe his father, in an attempt to separate himself from his father and older brother, and their reputations.  He also gets caught up in his first real romance with a high-school journalist named Karen, who also happens to be the daughter of the FBI agent bugging the Luca residence.

It’s a typical coming-of-age story, but with the always-fun twist of organized crime.  I enjoyed the book, and it’s a very easy read.  Good if you’re up for a bit of ‘cotton candy’ reading, as my coworkers would say.
I would give it a three out of five stars.  Until next time,
~CJ

Do you like film noir films? How about the movie Constantine?  Did you
enjoy watching Agents Scully and Mulder solve their strange cases?  If you
answered yes to more than one of these questions, I highly recommend reading Something
from the Nightside by Simon Green.  This book is a grand collision of
sci-fi and P.I., and the result is something you’ve never seen before.

The novel’s main character is John Taylor, a private investigator with a gift
for finding things (’whether they want to be found or not’).  He lives in
his shabby office in London, doing whatever cases happen to come his way.
Then, a woman comes and offers Taylor quite a lot money to find her missing
daughter. The only catch, the mother has heard rumors that her daughter is
in someplace called the Nightside, and was also told Taylor was the man to hire
if something needed found there. Simon Green gives the best explanation of the
Nightside on the back of the books cover:

“The Nightside. That square mile of Hell in the middle of the city
where it’s always three A.M.  Where you can walk beside myths and
monsters.  Where nothing is as it seems and everything is possible.”

Taylor has sworn never to go back to the Nightside, but the money is just too
good it seems.  So Taylor returns to his birthplace, a place where his
good, or bad (depending on how you look at it) reputation almost always precedes
him, and his many enemies are always looking for him.  Throughout the
story we meet several strange, scary, and just plain weird people and
creatures, including a house that eats people and Razor Eddie: Punk God Straight Razors.

The novel has quite a few clichés, but it takes them to a whole new level
simply by throwing in the complexity of the Nightside and its general
weirdness.  This book is the first in an eight-book series, and it seems
its main purpose is to establish the general setting and tone of the
novel.  It also introduces us to the main characters, my personal favorite
being trigger-happy Shotgun Suzie, a.k.a. Suzie Shooter, a.k.a. Oh, Christ it’s
her, run! 

Despite its predictability and the fact that Green is constantly repeating
himself, the book is in fact a good fluff read.  I easily finished it in a
day, and had time to start on the second one. It’s definitely not too deep or
challenging, but it will keep you entertained. I would give it 6 1/2 out of ten
stars.   I will be reviewing one of the Nightside novels every week, so
watch for next weeks, Agents of Light and Darkness!

Well, the time is finally here! Today I got my internet set up, and I’m ready to go.  My first review is of one of my favorite books, by one of my favorite authors.  The Good Guy opens with Timothy Carrier, a regular guy who prefers to fly under radar in his life, spends his days building walls as a mason, and his nights at his favorite bar, quietly watching other people go about their lives.  Until the day a stranger walks into the bar, slips him a plain envelope, and tells him, “Half of it’s there. Ten thousand. The rest when she’s gone.” then leaves Tim at the bar.  Upon opening the envelope, Tim finds the money, as well as a picture and address of a woman named Linda Paquette.  Soon after another man comes into the bar spots the envelope, and tells Tim, “You’re early.”  Thinking quickly, Tim tells the man he no longer requires his services, keeps the picture, and gives the killer the ten thousand as a “no-kill fee.” Immediately after this, Tim goes to the woman’s house in order to warn her.   However; this trick doesn’t work for long, and Tim finds himself playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse to protect this woman against the vicious killer, Krait.

The Good Guy is a great, fast paced novel that sucks you in from the very beginning, and is one of those books that you won’t want to put down until the very last line has been read.  The characters fill their archetypes, yet manage to stay above the typical clichés of, ironically enough, “the good guy” and “the bad guy.” Everyone knows someone like Linda Paquette, a different type of person, with her own unique quirks.   Timothy is a multi-layered character, you always get the sense that there is more to him than meets the eye, and when you finally get to the revelation on why he is so very good at what he does  it will both surprise you, yet leave you thinking, “How did I not guess that?” And finally, Krait, who is a truly heartless and terrifying villain, whose complete lack of a conscience will chill you to the bone.  I absolutely loved this book, and all in all I give this book 10 out of 10 stars, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.

Well, that’s about it for me tonight.  Please feel free to leave any of your comments, or your own thoughts on the book! Until next time,

~CJ

~CJ